Umbrellas
by starschild09
Summary: Autumn rain and a whole lot of thinking got Todoroki where he needs to be, but thinking doesn't help. He needs to actually get up off his ass and do something about his situation


A/N: Woohooo! A short! Not really that good at writing short but hey! Here it is! Lemme know what you think! Love y'all as always!

* * *

Shoto Todoroki thinks about his situation again, looking around the cramped apartment room. He didn't think Yaoyorozu would settle down in a place like this. With her family's finance, the young man has thought she would be living somewhere more… spacious.

But he isn't one to judge. Leaving his abode after graduation was the toughest thing he had to do, had he not spent time at Height Alliance. There was a lot of things that he must do by himself, leaving the confused youngster grateful for the care of his mother and friends. Most memorable among them all is her.

Yaoyorozu was a bold saint. Despite having little teaching in home education, she straightforwardly offered to help makes his lonesome apartment more homely. He wanted to thank her for that. Hence the invitation, but the moment both of them got to the park, a sudden rainfall caught him off guard.

And now he's here - in her apartment - wondering if he accidentally traveled back to French in the late 1200s. Her preference for furniture definitely hasn't changed and Shoto finds himself strangely put off by the grandiosity of it. Maybe it was his own preference that was getting in the way, maybe it was the chilly cold from being soaked like rats… or maybe, it was something else he dare not whisper.

He studies Yaoyorozu chubby fingers as she sets the kettle down on her stove. The female hasn't changed much after they both became pro heroes but that did not mean her beauty failed to improve. Her handsome thighs make themselves known under the ghostly fabric of her dress. She's drenched from the rain, but rather than changing out, this mistress of the house insisted she makes him something warm for him first.

It's only right, she said, hurrying to prepare the Darjeeling.

The young man looks away, didn't want her to see him blushing. Todoroki walked over to the window and reflected on his unexplainable feelings. He had always loved an old-fashioned house with its often hidden, uneven umbrellas. It was a memory that encourages his visits to mother's hospital room. Yaoyorozu has a way to remind him of her - witty, a bit clumsy, yet always kind - which is why the two umbrellas at her door made him unstoppably disheartened.

What were you hoping for, you stupid man?

Todoroki gulped, asking himself. He glanced at his own reflection in the window. The rain hammered like rocks on his vulnerable heart. He's a charming, virtuous and if anything, a bit stoic. At least, that's what his friends saw in him. Rarely do they find him kind, even though once he had rescued a kitten from the tree. It was just daily work, but he genuinely wanted to save that little cat. God forbid, it reminded him of her.

But not even a virtuous person who had once brought a frightened kitten down from a tree was prepared for what Yaoyorozu had in store today. Todoroki grabs his dampened jacket and turns around.

'I'm leaving,' he announces, very much to the female's surprise.

'Wait. Why?' she asks, drowning out the sizzling of the kettle, 'The tea should be done right away'

'No, it's fine'

Shoto bites his lips. 'I really shouldn't intrude'

'Nonsense! Of course, you are not! Please have a sit, Todoroki-san. I can't let you leave like this, you'll catch a cold!'

Under her determined eye, he could not disagree. Obediently like a child, the young man sits down on the floor again, watching her chubby fingers wrap themselves around the kettle handle as she pours the hot water into the teapot.

'I'll look for something,' she comments hastily and mysteriously before leaving him to sit alone in the living room, 'Wait here'

With nothing else to do, he returns to downpour, soaked clothes and his dangerous thoughts. Damn it to hell, she looked stunning even when she was soaked.

No.

Perhaps, it was because she was soaked. Twenty-two years of age and Shoto never once thought he would consider anyone for himself. There simply wasn't enough time and he didn't think there would be a fitting individual. He wasn't as eager as Midoriya to enter a relationship, but seeing his friend's bright smile as he stands beside the love of his life, makes this young man slightly jealous.

Shoto innately avoids love. He does not desire to hurt another woman like his father did, and as much as he is unwilling to accept, Endeavor became a part of him the day this scar on his left was formed. Mom was his greatest reminder that when it comes to love, hurt accompanies. And he is more likely to be like his father than anyone. After all, he was built upon that abusive man's ideals.

'I'm so sorry!'

Yaoyorozu apologizes, closing the door to her room behind her as she hands him a stack of clothes.

'I looked through my closet but could only find this. I hope it fits you'

Training tracksuit isn't something unfamiliar with him. Blue with white stripes, it reminds him of their forgotten days in Musutafu. Hustling and bustling Tokyo proscribed him from thinking back to a time where he would deem the best years of his life.

Hero's work is okay, but it was neither necessarily fun nor fast-paced like the sports festivals at U.A. The young man wasn't deglamorized but he didn't find anything to anchor him down either. Until he met up with her again.

The first second he laid eyes on Yaoyorozu in her pink chiffon dress, Shoto lost his breath. She was more real and more alluring than he remembers. He didn't find her interesting when they first met in high school, but slowly and surely, the young woman edged her presence into his life so he was more than ready to say yes when she offered to help with moving furniture. As uncharacteristic as it is, Shoto was biased when it comes to her. And he was fine with it.

'You can change in the toilet,' Yaoyorozu points to the door on his left, 'Tea should be ready when you're done.'

Nodding, he rises from his seat.

The moment the door close, separating the two of them, Shoto lets out a long and held up sigh. He unfolds the tracksuit jacket and unclothes himself. Much to his surprise and disappointment, the tracksuit fit him well. Sounds of moving kitchen utensils and her little yelp when she thought she broke a cup made his heart warm but also sends chills down his spine. No matter how much he spends the time to think about it, his presence here feels wrong.

The young man doesn't want to cause her any trouble.

'I should really lea-,' presses Shoto as he exits the room.

However, when Yaoyorozu sits down with a tray next to the oak kitchen table, the young man finds himself unable to speak. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun with water still trickling down her long and pinkish neck. She didn't hear him. Only enchanted by the smell of hot beverage.

And he was enchanted by the image of her.

'Oh! Todoroki-san!' Yaoyorozu cheers as she looks up and gestures him to the seat opposite to hers, 'Please! Oh, and I'll wash those if you don't mind'

'You don't have to,' he shakes his head but was defeated by her smile.

'I want to.'

When she returns to the room and the noise of turning washing wheel becomes muffled behind the closed door, Shoto sits up a bit straighter. He sets his phone on the table, face down.

'Would you like the Wi-Fi code?' asks the benevolent female.

Would he? The young man wonders before rigidly nodding his head. His fingers wrap around the warm mug as he silently waits while she storms around the room, looking for her router. At this point in time, he doesn't think it's too rude to ask anymore. It's a done deal anyway. It shouldn't hurt.

'So,' Shoto begins, 'How long has it been?'

'Hm?'

He can hear her distracted voice trailing off into the black hole in his heart.

'Your… boyfriend,' the young man specifies.

He didn't think Yaoyorozu would look up from her search. Her eyes widen before she breaks out into a laughing fit. Shoto turns his face again, embarrassed by the mockery.

'What are you talking about, Todoroki-san? I don't have one.'

'You don't?'

He turns back. 'But the tracksuit-'

'Men clothes are just cheaper, and comfier'

The female states as a matter of fact. She returns to her search, leaving him and his feelings jumbled within. Shoto isn't sure if he is happy, shocked or glad. He couldn't think of a reason why someone like Yaoyorozu couldn't find a perfect partner. She was the Madonna of their class, with boys running after her. Moreover, he would assume that amongst all twenty-something of them, she would be the first one to get married.

Unexpectedly, Kaminari beats them all to it, but still, he had thought this young woman would be too.

Next to confusion, he found an elation he didn't dare think of. The scar on his left appears on the light brown surface of the tea. Todoroki raises his voice.

'Did you… find anyone?'

'No. Not yet. My family is quite picky too, but that really isn't the point'

'What is, then?'

'Someone I really like?'

The rain continues outside of their conversation.

'What about in U.A.? Did you…,' he lets the question trails off.

'No,' Yaoyorozu shakes her head, '… Not really'

Silence hangs over them again, stuffier by each passing second. Shoto pushes away the cup of tea he was looking at and locks his gaze on the surface of the table.

'What about… me?'

The words escape his mouth like venom from a snake's fang. He couldn't take it back. He isn't sure he wants to take it back. It didn't come out without fear or worries, but he'd rather come clean than leaving her house with a heavy heart. She deserves to know, and mother deserves a chance.

But Yaoyorozu didn't answer.

She remains quiet the entire time, rustling about her living room.

'Did you hear what I said?'

'I heard you'

The female replies almost immediately - firm, and confident.

'Okay.'

He upstands from the wooden stool and heads for the door one last time. His clothes are still in her drier, but Shoto'd rather go home in a tracksuit than staying here with his embarrassment. Of course, she wouldn't choose him. No one does. Endeavor's son is forever Endeavor's son.

It's a step back. But it's what he does best when it comes to this sort of things. He decided to run away.

'Todoroki-san? Wait- Where are you going?'

'I'm going home!' the sentence came out, more hurt than he expected.

'Wait! The Wi-Fi code!'

'I don't want the damn Wi-Fi code!'

Shoto raises his voice and pulls the entrance door open. Her footsteps thump behind him, and before he could react, she was already blocking the door. Her back against its metal surface and her hands on his, stopping him from pushing the handle any further.

'I want you to have the code,' she says, looking straight into his eyes.

The young man grunts, inhaling deeply.

'I don't want it'

'But it will be inconvenient if you don't have it,' she pries his hands off, 'I'm not going to change the password so it's better if you hold on to it'

'I said-'

'I know what you said! I heard you! Listen to me now, would you? I love you, you idiot!'

Thunders arrived after her words. They were swift, and they were unfazed. He stares into Yaoyorozu's blushing cheeks and pouting lips.

'You really can't read the atmosphere,' she continues, challengingly pushing her attitude on, 'Please don't make me have to say it so bluntly, Todoroki-san'

It felt like the rain has stopped. Shoto couldn't hear a sound at all. Not the hammering downpour, not the muffled washing machine, the drier or the racing thoughts inside his head. For that moment alone, he felt like time has stopped and all became his. He wasn't his father's son or his mother's trauma. He was just him - a twenty-two year old, desperate for the girl he has loved to see him. And she did.

Sounds were irrelevant but they were so important to him. The drum-like beats of his heart, frantically trying to find their rhythm. He closed his ears on all things. Gently and in the cozy room amidst the autumn rain, Shoto edges into the forever part of his recollection, the smelled Deerling and tasted the sugary sweetness of her lips.


End file.
